Tibetan fox
Vulpes ferrilata Hodgson, 1842
The tibetan fox (Vulpes ferrilata), also called the sand fox or Tibetan sand fox, is a mammal in the family Canidae and the order Carnivora. It is a medium-sized, terrestrial and nocturnal carnivore of grassland and shrubland, with an adult body mass of 5 kg.
Quick facts about the tibetan fox
Gestation lasts 54 days, litters average 4.7 young, and sexual maturity is reached at 1.1 years. The IUCN Red List assesses the tibetan fox as Least Concern, which is not a threatened category.
- Weight
- 2.25 kg – 5 kgsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- 11 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Carnivoresrc for Diet
- Longest recorded lifespan
- 13.9 years
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- grassland, shrublandsrc for Habitat
- Gestation
- 51 days – 54.1 dayssrc for Gestation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 4.71src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 9 months – 16.7 monthssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 1.05src for Litters or clutches a year
- Active
- At night (nocturnal)src for Active
- Lifestyle
- Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Photos of the tibetan fox
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
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Where does the tibetan fox live?
Not recorded
What is the tibetan fox?
The Tibetan fox (Vulpes ferrilata), also known as the Tibetan sand fox, is a species of true fox endemic to the high Tibetan Plateau and Bhutan, China, India and Nepal up to elevations of about 5,300 m (17,400 ft). It is listed as Least Concern in the IUCN Red List, on account of its widespread range in the Tibetan Plateau's steppes and semi-deserts.
From the Wikipedia article “Tibetan fox” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tibetan_fox&oldid=1380846238), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the tibetan fox endangered?
The tibetan fox is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.
How is the tibetan fox classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classMammalia
- orderCarnivora
- familyCanidae
- genusVulpes
- SpeciesVulpes ferrilata Hodgson, 1842
Synonyms Canis ekloni, Vulpes ekloni
Other names and names in other languages (38)
- Sand foxEnglish
- Tibetan sand foxEnglish
- Tibetan sand foxEnglish
- SandvosAfrikaans
- Tibetaans SandvosAfrikaans
- ثعلب التبتArabic
- ثعلب تيبيتيArabic
- ثعلب صحاري التبتArabic
- Rabosa tibetanaAragonese
- Тыбецкі лісBelarusian
- liška horskáCzech
- Tibetansk SandrævDanish
- TibetfuchsGerman
- Θιβετιανή ΑλεπούGreek
- Zorro TibetanoSpanish
- Tiibeti liivarebaneEstonian
- tiibetinkettuFinnish
- Renard du TibetFrench
- Renard sable du ThibetFrench
- שועל חול טיבטיHebrew
- tibeti rókaHungarian
- Տիբեթյան աղվեսArmenian
- Volpe tibetanaItalian
- チベットスナギツネJapanese
- 티벳여우Korean
- 티베트모래여우Korean
- SandrevNorwegian Bokmål
- TibetrevNorwegian Bokmål
- Tibetaanse ZandvosDutch
- Midden-Aziatische VosDutch
- Lis tybetańskiPolish
- Raposa-do-HimalaiaPortuguese
- Тибетская лисицаRussian
- Tibet tilkisiTurkish
- Лисиця тибетськаUkrainian
- 藏狐Chinese
- Zang HuliChinese
- ZanghuChinese
Relatives of the tibetan fox
Other species in the same genus Vulpes.
Red fox
Vulpes vulpes
Fennec fox
Vulpes zerda
Corsac fox
Vulpes corsac
Bengal fox
Vulpes bengalensis
Cape fox
Vulpes chama
Blanford's fox
Vulpes cana
CompareTibetan fox vs Red foxTibetan fox vs Fennec foxTibetan fox vs Corsac foxTibetan fox vs Bengal fox
Common questions
Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.
What kind of animal is the tibetan fox?
The tibetan fox is a mammal in the family Canidae, order Carnivora, and genus Vulpes.
How heavy is the tibetan fox?
An adult Tibetan fox weighs 5 kg, placing it in the medium size class.
What does the tibetan fox eat?
The tibetan fox is a carnivore.
What habitat does the tibetan fox live in?
The tibetan fox lives in grassland and shrubland, where it is terrestrial and nocturnal.
Is the tibetan fox endangered?
No. The IUCN Red List assesses it as Least Concern, which is not a threatened category.
How long does the tibetan fox live?
The tibetan fox has a lifespan of 11 years, with values up to 13.9 years reported.
How many young does the tibetan fox have?
The tibetan fox has 4.7 young per litter on average, with 1.05 litters per year, after a gestation of 54 days.
Who named the tibetan fox?
The tibetan fox was named Vulpes ferrilata by Hodgson, 1842.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - EltonTraits 1.0: species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals · CC0 1.0 · 1.0
Wilman, H., Belmaker, J., Simpson, J., de la Rosa, C., Rivadeneira, M.M. & Jetz, W. (2014) EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals. Ecology 95: 2027. https://doi.org/10.1890/13-1917.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3559887.v1 - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Tibetan fox (Vulpes ferrilata). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/tibetan-fox
“Tibetan fox (Vulpes ferrilata).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/tibetan-fox.
@misc{tibetan_fox_2026,
title = {Tibetan fox (Vulpes ferrilata)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/tibetan-fox},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}